Extract from ABC News
Amnesty said the strikes that damaged residential areas could amount to war crimes. (AFP)
In short:
Three attacks the US and Israel carried out on Tehran in March may amount to war crimes, Amnesty International has said in a new report.
The human rights organisation said that while the targets of the strikes may have been justified under international law, the damage to surrounding civilian areas was "entirely predictable".
Amnesty International is calling for the US and Israel to allow independent investigations into the attacks.
Amnesty International is demanding formal investigations into three American and Israeli attacks on densely packed suburbs in Tehran that killed at least 41 civilians, arguing the devastating impact and choice of weapons may amount to war crimes.
The advocacy group examined the March incidents, analysing photos and videos of the attacks available on social media as well as eyewitness accounts and official reports in Iranian state media to question the legitimacy of the strikes.
It found that the targets of the strikes, namely police stations and paramilitary compounds, may have been justified under international law.
But Amnesty said the damage to the surrounding areas, specifically civilian apartment blocks and businesses in congested neighbourhoods, should have been cause to rethink the attacks because of "entirely predictable consequences for civilians".
"Military combatants have to take feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties," Andrew Witheford, a spokesperson for Amnesty International Australia, told the ABC.
"If it's possible, they need to give warning, and the strike itself and the action taken need to be proportionate to the military objectives that are being sought.
"Our analysis of these three attacks indicate that this bar wasn't cleared."
Amnesty, which describes the US and Israel's war with Iran as unlawful, said the two countries must allow independent investigations of their conduct relating to the three attacks, as well as the widely criticised strike on the Minab school on the very first day of the war which killed 150 people, including 120 children.
When asked whether those countries would launch independent investigations, Mr Witheford said: "It saddens me to say that it's not looking good so far."
Early video from the scene of a strike on an Iranian school.
'Horrific' scenes after early air strikes
One of the attacks investigated by Amnesty was on Niloufar Square in central Tehran on the evening of March 1, the second day of the war.
A police station appeared to be the target, but significant damage was reported to nearby apartment buildings and shops in the area.
Iranian officials said at least 20 civilians were killed in the strikes.
Amnesty said it had spoken to a local journalist, whom the organisation named "Kiana", who said that the scene was "horrific" and that between 15 and 20 apartment buildings had been damaged in the blasts.
Residential buildings were reduced to rubble near Niloufar Square. (AFP)
She told the organisation that a father and son working in a bakery were believed to be among the dead.
The second strike was on the Resalat neighbourhood in eastern Tehran, where Iranian officials said at least 16 people were killed, including 12 members of the same family, on the afternoon of March 9.
The strike there appeared to target a building belonging to the Basij, the Iranian regime's notorious paramilitary branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Amnesty's investigation revealed another three buildings were badly damaged, but the organisation could only verify one as being a residential block.
One source it spoke to insisted the residents of the building, known as Number 12, were all civilians, and said he had seen horrific injuries and bodies blown to pieces.
At the time, the Israeli military had announced it was hitting Basij targets across the Iranian capital.
The third attack scrutinised by Amnesty occurred on March 13 in Javadieh, southern Tehran, where at least five people were killed.
The group described it as a "low-income neighbourhood characterised by aging infrastructure and small, closely packed homes and other civilian structures".
Again, a police station appeared to be the target. But Iranian state media reported a number of other buildings were either destroyed or seriously damaged, including an apartment block and nearby businesses.
Amnesty said it had reviewed a photograph published by state media and believed it showed components of an American guided missile system used by the US and Israeli militaries.
Effects extend 'well beyond' targets
The United States and Israel are yet to respond to Amnesty's report but have previously defended their military actions as lawful.
Both countries have said they do not target civilians.
Amnesty said the control the Iranian regime has over the country's police force may have made the police stations lawful military targets — despite police generally being considered civilian in many circumstances.
It also said the Basij, being paramilitary, may also have qualified "as a military objective under international humanitarian law".
But it argued its analysis of the three strikes raised "serious concerns" about breaches of international law, "particularly the principles of distinction and precautions in attack."
The women of Iran's war. (Karishma Vyas)
In Niloufar, Amnesty argued the presence of civilians was predictable.
"Even if the police station could qualify as a military objective … the timing and location, the presence of civilians in surrounding residential buildings, restaurants and public spaces required the attacking forces to take all feasible precautions to avoid or minimise incidental death of or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects," it said.
"The extensive blast damage affecting numerous apartment blocks, a school, and commercial premises, coupled with reports of significant civilian casualties, suggests the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects.
"The use in a densely populated area of a weapon whose effects extend well beyond the targeted object raises serious concerns regarding the respect of the principles of distinction and precaution."
In Javadieh, Amnesty said the concerns around harm to civilians should have been considered.
"The reported blast radius, extending up to 50 metres, and the scale of damage to homes and commercial properties indicate that the effects of the attack were not limited to the intended target," it said.
In Resalat, the organisation said it was likely a building other than the Basij compound was hit in a separate strike.
"Investigations should clarify whether any residential buildings that were struck were intentionally targeted, or whether they were struck recklessly despite indications that they were civilian objects," Amnesty said.
"If so, those attacks may amount to war crimes."
Hundreds of civilians have been killed since the Iran war began on February 28, with estimates ranging from 1,700 to more than 3,400.
Mr Witheford said Iran had also contributed to civilian deaths during the war, both through attacking other countries and executing its own people.
"The laws of war apply to the Iranian military as well, and they have dropped the ball in this case as well," he said.
Mr Witheford said Amnesty approached both the Israeli and United States militaries for input on its report and did not receive a response.
No comments:
Post a Comment